The New SAT Exam

[*~Eleni~*]

First changes in 11 years...and big ones too.
The test will be administered tomorrow.

<table class="dataTable dtm" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="186" width="449"> <tbody><tr><td class="tableHeader">
</td> <th scope="col" class="tableHeader" nowrap="nowrap" width="40%">Previous SAT</th> <th scope="col" class="tableHeader" nowrap="nowrap" width="40%">New SAT</th> </tr> <tr> <th scope="col" colspan="3" class="tableSubhed" align="center">Math</th> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">Time</th> <td>75 minutes
Two 30-minute sections; one 15-minute section.</td> <td>70 minutes
Two 25-minute sections; one 20-minute section.</td> </tr> <tr class="tableDark"> <th scope="row">Content</th> <td>Multiple-Choice Items, Student-Produced Responses, Quantitative Comparisons

Measuring: Number and Operations, Algebra I and Functions Geometry; Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis.

</td> <td>Multiple-Choice Items, Student-Produced Responses

Measuring: Number and Operations, Algebra I, II, and Functions Geometry; Statistics, Probability, and Data Analysis

</td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">Score</th> <td>M 200-800</td> <td>M 200-800</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="dataTable dtm" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="160" width="448"> <tbody><tr> <td class="tableHeader">
</td> <th scope="col" class="tableHeader" nowrap="nowrap" width="40%">Previous SAT</th> <th scope="col" class="tableHeader" nowrap="nowrap" width="40%">New SAT</th> </tr> <tr> <th scope="col" colspan="3" class="tableSubhed" align="center">Critical Reading</th> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">Time</th> <td>75 minutes
Two 30-minute sections; one 15-minute section</td> <td>70 minutes
Two 25-minute sections; one 20-minute section.</td> </tr> <tr class="tableDark"> <th scope="row">Content</th> <td>Sentence Completions, Passage-Based Reading, Analogies

Measuring: Extended Reasoning, Literal Comprehension, Vocabulary in Context

</td> <td>Sentence Completions, Passage-Based Reading

Measuring: Extended Reasoning, Literal Comprehension, Vocabulary in Context

</td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">Score</th> <td>V 200-800</td> <td>CR 200-800</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="dataTable dtm" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="228" width="448"> <tbody><tr> <td class="tableHeader">
</td> <th scope="col" class="tableHeader" nowrap="nowrap" width="40%">Previous SAT</th> <th scope="col" class="tableHeader" nowrap="nowrap" width="40%">New SAT</th> </tr> <tr> <th scope="col" colspan="3" class="tableSubhed" align="center">Writing</th> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">Time</th> <td>No test</td> <td>60 minutes
35-minute multiple choice; 25-minute essay</td> </tr> <tr class="tableDark"> <th scope="row">Content</th> <td>No test</td> <td>Multiple-Choice: Identifying Errors, Improving Sentences and Paragraphs

Student-Written Essay: Effectively Communicate a Viewpoint, Defining and Supporting a Position

</td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row">Score</th> <td>
</td> <td>W 200-800

Multiple-Choice Subscore: 20-80

Essay Subscore: 2-12

</td></tr></tbody> </table>

What Educators Are Saying

The College Board has taken a strong step recently in making changes to the SAT itself. The new test is designed to be less coachable and to capture more accurately what students learn in school. It also promises to demonstrate more clearly the kinds of skills students need to succeed, such as writing.
Larry Summers
President
Harvard University

As former dean of admissions at MIT and now vice president at the University of Chicago where we have a calculus requirement, I am especially glad to see a higher level of preparation expected for success in taking the SAT I math. Taking algebra in high school has been shown to be a strong predictor of whether a student will enter college, and developing strong quantitative reasoning is important for success in more and more professions.
Michael C. Behnke
Vice President, Dean of College Enrollment
University of Chicago

The new SAT will be a better yardstick of what people here have accomplished. . . . The symbolic importance of stressing writing on the SAT is critical. I think it will lead to real reform.
William R. Fitzsimmons
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
Harvard University

The writing component sends a loud and clear message that strong writing is essential to success in college and beyond.
Linda Clement
Vice President for Student Affairs
University of Maryland: College Park

[Victor Johnson]

cool article eleni.
adding an essay section is huge.

especially for kids that are planning on being liberal arts majors.

[*~Eleni~*]

yep! The essay is going to be scored by 2 people,and if they disagree there will be a 3rd party involed...wow right?

BTW the essay has brought the high score to 2400.

[antknee]

I think thats pretty cool, but since the test now has a writing section...doesn't that make it unstandardized? I mean not the same 2 ppl will be grading all tests across the board.

[lizzy]

i wonder if that means they are tossing the sat II writing, considering that test was based mostly off an essay...i'm surprised they got rid of QC's, those were so easy, people probably complained they were unfair though

[TheHipHopBillGates]

thank god i didnt have to take this version, i hate writing it probably would have killed me.

[SuNsHiNeS]

I agree..that writing part would have killed meeee... I scored better on the Math section when I took it

[eric]

damn i wish it was like that when i took it, i dominated the writing SAT2

[sexxncandie]

damn i wish it was like that when i took it, i dominated the writing SAT2

Lol same here...the writing woulda helped me.

[John Kennedy]

My little cuz is taking it tomorrow morning, she says the writing will help her too.. she didn't like the old version lol

[J. Martin]

I wish the whole shit was Essays. I hate multiple choice, and really loather the rading comp part. I didn't even read the shit. I just wanted to finish and get to the afterparty :lostit

[berniec]

thank god i didnt have to take this version, i hate writing it probably would have killed me.

i woulda ace'd the writing part, but the new Algebra II part woulda killed me...i barely knew enough to get a 500 on the old tests math section LOL

[Doge]

my client right now is ETS (Educational Testing Svcs) who administers SAT's, TOFL's, AP exams. they've been gearing up for this for a while now.

i should go walk into the warehouse and steal some exams n sell em

[TheHipHopBillGates]

i woulda ace'd the writing part, but the new Algebra II part woulda killed me...i barely knew enough to get a 500 on the old tests math section LOL

i'm the exact opposite, got a perfect score on the math on SAT 1 & 2. But never had the writing capabilities, although I didn't get into pc's seriously until after I graduated HS, i think if I had MS office in high school and was able to type things I would have been much more proficient, it was the actual physical act of writing that annoyed me.

[TheHipHopBillGates]

my client right now is ETS (Educational Testing Svcs) who administers SAT's, TOFL's, AP exams. they've been gearing up for this for a while now.

i should go walk into the warehouse and steal some exams n sell em

ETS is the shit, I did 45 credits of my undergrad thru CLEP testing. Anyone that's wants to save some time and money should look into clep's and they're school's policies.

[LuvMeLuvMyCat]

This just brought back random high school memories. :shootme

[stefanm3]

This just brought back random high school memories.

Sat question math part:

A map point A to point B is 6 inches, point B to point C is 8 inches which cannot be the distance from point A to point C

A) 2
B) 7
C) 10
D) 14
E) 15

[DonnaGirl]

These standardized tests are such bullshit. They certainly did not predict how I did in college and grad school. I took the SAT and GRE 2x...did horrible...yet in college and grad school I had straight A's.